Rocket Lab has stood down a scheduled Friday evening launch of its Electron rocket from Māhia Peninsula "to conduct further tests on ground systems".

Among the cargo on the rocket is a Japanese satellite that could drop artificial "shooting stars" to light up the skies above Tokyo for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital in 2020.

The rocket carrying the ALE-2 satellite, from which the artificial shooting stars would be dropped towards the atmosphere, had been due to be launched from the company's Māhia Peninsula site near Gisborne no earlier than 9.20pm on Friday.

Just before 9pm Rocket Lab tweeted that the launch was off for now.

The tweet said: "Launch update: We're standing down from today's launch attempt to conduct further tests on ground systems. We'll update with a new target launch date soon. The window remains open until 12 December."

Less than 40 minutes earlier there had been no hint of any problems, with the company tweeting: "T-60 minutes", above a picture of a rocket on a launch pad.

Rocket Lab is calling the mission Running Out of Fingers, and said it would include the first guided, full telemetry re-entry of the Electron launch vehicle's first stage. That was part of its plans to re-use and re-fly rocket boosters in future missions.

ALE spokesperson Mariko Yamasaki said it was still "undecided" whether the shooting stars show would take place at the Olympic opening event "but, if our meteor showers are adopted for the Tokyo Olympic Games, we will be delighted and honoured".

The rocket is also carrying six 5cm PocketQube microsatellites from satellite manufacturer and mission management provider Alba Orbital.